MURDERED: Jeanie Childs

Summary

Podcast Summary: Clues with Morgan Absher & Kaylin Moore

Episode: MURDERED: Jeanie Childs
Date: October 22, 2025
Theme: The 1993 murder of Jeanie Childs and the decades-long investigation culminating in a conviction, showcasing perseverance, forensic breakthroughs, and familial advocacy.

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the tragic, brutally violent unsolved murder of Jeanie Childs in Minneapolis, Minnesota, unraveling not only the details of the crime but also the tireless determination of her family and investigators. Hosts Morgan Absher and Kaylin Moore guide listeners through Jeanie’s troubled life, the crime scene’s chilling forensic evidence, and how modern DNA technology finally cracked the case.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Case Introduction & Discovery

• [00:38] Kaylin introduces the case: Jeanie Childs, murdered and stabbed over 60 times in her apartment, with initial evidence appearing promising, but leading to a cold case.
• The crime scene is discovered after a flood in a neighboring apartment leads maintenance workers to Jeanie’s unit, finding catastrophic bloody violence ([04:45] – [07:00]).

Quote:

"This is one that flies under the radar and really highlights good detectives and how big of a role evidence—and some Sherlock moments—can make."
— Morgan Absher [03:49]

2. Jeanie’s Background

• [07:00+] Kaylin details Jeanie’s upbringing in a small town with family strife, abuse, and later trauma, including substance abuse and sex work.
• Jeanie’s resilience and care for her family are highlighted, juxtaposed with her struggles with addiction and the criminalization of her lifestyle.
• Jeanie’s complex relationships: two marriages, a stepmother role, relationships within biker culture, but continued connection to her family.

Quotes:

“Her family talking about her... She seemed like such a kind, empathetic person and really good friend.”
— Morgan Absher [11:58]

"Kinda naturally fell into the big sister role. And it seems like after this, the two of them go on to have a relatively happy childhood, at least for a little while."
— Kaylin Moore [08:17]

3. The Crime Scene & Forensic Evidence

• [18:45] Investigative focus shifts as the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension steps in due to the overwhelming blood evidence and complexity.
• [21:26+] Bart Epstein, blood spatter expert, becomes pivotal—identifying a unique forensic clue: several bloody, bare footprints at the scene.
• The significance of bare footprints is explored, being as unique as fingerprints, but rarely used in investigations.

Quotes:

“From the moment Bart Epstein walks into the apartment, he realizes it is one of the bloodiest crime scenes he has investigated in his 27 years with the Bureau.”
— Morgan Absher [21:26]

“Unique friction ridge skin...every one of us has unique lines.”
— Morgan Absher [24:19]

4. Immediate Investigation and Dead Ends

• [26:12+] Arthur Gray, Jeanie’s boyfriend, is the initial suspect but is ultimately cleared due to a solid alibi and mismatched footprint evidence.
• Investigators face difficulty due to Jeanie’s work: records of clients are scarce and unlikely to be volunteered.
• Forensic evidence reconstructs Jeanie’s desperate struggle and the attacker’s continued violence after death, painting a picture of extreme rage ([28:42]–[30:29]).

5. The Case Turns Cold

• [35:57] High crime rates and limited leads force the case cold as police exhaust all traditional avenues.
• Jeanie’s mother Betty persistently contacts authorities for decades—her advocacy becomes legendary.

Quote:

“Betty, this entire time, never lets an entire year pass without having reminded the police that they never found her daughter’s killer.”—Kaylin Moore [36:44]

6. Breakthroughs with Advancing DNA Technology

• [38:34+] In 2015, improved DNA methods lead to retesting old evidence, spearheaded by Sergeant Karacostas and FBI Agent Beckers.
• Blood in the stairwell initially points to a new suspect, John Eswine—a dead-end.
• Retesting links an unknown male profile to multiple pieces of key evidence in the crime scene.
• [42:27+] The Golden State Killer case inspires the team to try forensic genealogy. By late 2018, after uploading the DNA profile to genealogy sites, they zero in on Jerry Westrom.

Memorable Moment:

Describing the FBI’s secret operation to collect Jerry’s DNA via a discarded hot dog napkin at a hockey game, dodging a kid with a slushie:
“It was like this thing, like, silently begging the kid to not do it.”
— Morgan Absher [48:22]

7. Identification and Arrest of Jerry Westrom

• [43:12+] The genetic genealogy narrows suspects to two brothers; only Jerry Westrom, with brown eyes, fits.
• A covert operation yields Jerry’s DNA—matching the crime scene exactly ([48:24]).
• Jerry is arrested, denies knowing Jeanie, and his prints are confirmed to match the unique bloody footprints.

Quote:

“Later the same month, the results come back, and it is a match. Jerry Westrom was definitely in Jeannie’s apartment. And that alone might not be enough to convict him, but it’s enough to finally get an arrest warrant.”
— Morgan Absher [48:50]

8. Trial and Conviction

• [52:30+] Jerry’s trial is delayed, the prosecution argues premeditation due to the excessive violence, and the grand jury returns a first-degree murder indictment.
• At trial, prosecution presents three main pieces: Jerry’s lies, DNA evidence (blood and semen), and footprint analysis—even the defense expert agrees.
• The defense points to alternative suspects but is limited; most notably, they are only permitted to present Arthur Gray as an alternative suspect, whose alibi holds.
• Jerry’s family stands by him, but after only two hours of jury deliberation, he’s convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Quotes:

“What else are you intending to do to another human being when you cut, stab, and slice them 65 times?”
— Prosecutor’s closing argument [61:18]

“She describes this whole case as being just a situation where no one wins. That's the quote she has, is that no one wins.”
— Kaylin Moore (on Jeanie’s sister Cindy) [64:03]

Victim Impact Statements:

Betty:
“I've waited so many years to have this end, and it's put my life through so much hell, and I just really feel I'll never forget and love her the way I always did.” [64:20]

Cindy:
“She is happy that her sister's killer was caught, and she is devastated for his daughters, and even his wife...she's such an empathetic person.” [63:37]

9. Reflections and Cold Case Advocacy

• The hosts reflect on the role of perseverance by Betty and advancements in forensic science.
• They discuss Season of Justice, a nonprofit funding DNA testing of cold cases, sharing that out of 220 grants, 20 cases have been resolved ([66:23]).
• Listeners are encouraged to support such efforts, underscoring the episode’s message: with time and innovation, justice is possible—even decades later.

10. Missing Person Spotlight

• The episode ends with a call for help in finding Ariana Fitz, a missing child whose mother was murdered, urging listeners to remain vigilant and share tips ([67:22]).

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Notable Quotes — Highlights

• “Flies under the radar and really highlights good detectives and how big of a role evidence and some Sherlock moments can make.”
  — Morgan Absher [03:49]

• “She describes this whole case as being just a situation where no one wins.”
  — Kaylin Moore (quoting Cindy, Jeanie’s sister) [64:03]

• “There is a ton of evidence against Jerry...big pieces of evidence, the towel. He also clearly lied in a recorded police interview, and he lived in the same small town where Jeanie grew up.”
  — Morgan Absher [64:27]

• “Justice can be served. And you know, as you know, her sister Cindy said it's a no win for kind of everyone. But Jeanie deserves justice. The family deserves answers.”
  — Morgan Absher [70:08]

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Important Timestamps

• Case Introduction: [00:38]
• Discovery of Crime Scene: [04:45]
• Jeanie’s Early Life: [07:00]
• Blood Evidence & Forensics: [18:45], [21:26]
• Forensic Footprint Discovery: [21:26]–[25:36]
• Elimination of Arthur Gray as Suspect: [26:12]
• Case Goes Cold: [35:57]
• DNA Technology Advances: [38:34]–[43:12]
• Genealogy Strategy & Identification of Suspect: [42:27]
• Covert DNA Collection: [47:30]–[48:24]
• Jerry Westrom’s Arrest & Footprint Analysis: [48:50]–[50:52]
• Trial and Verdict: [52:30]–[62:39]
• Victim Impact Statements/Reflections: [63:27]–[65:07]
• Season of Justice Nonprofit Mention: [66:23]
• Missing Person of the Week: [67:22]

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Tone and Takeaways

The tone is empathetic, meticulous, and engaging—mixing forensic nerdiness (“footprints as unique as fingerprints”) with grounded emotional moments. The episode honors both the resilience of Jeanie’s family and the methodical, sometimes obsessive work of detectives. It’s a case that celebrates advocacy, technological leaps, and hope for cold cases—hitting home how one clue, preserved and re-examined, can finally bring justice after decades.

Final Message:
Never give up hope; new methods may yet unlock long-cold mysteries. And as always—#JusticeForJeanie.

Transcript

[Kaylin Moore]

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[Morgan Abshur]

This is Crime House.

[Kaylin Moore]

Today we are going to talk about the 1993 murder of Jeannie Childs, a Minneapolis woman stabbed more than 60 times in her own apartment. The investigation started with a solid clue that everyone thought would crack the case. It was instead, the evidence led them down a very winding and complicated path which eventually caused the case to turn cold.

[Morgan Abshur]

Then, 25 years later, a new investigative technique led police to a game changing clue one Hiding in plain sight and left by someone no one would have ever suspected before. Foreign hi guys, welcome back to Clues, where we sneak past the crime scene tape to explore the key evidence behind some of the most gripping true crime cases.

[Kaylin Moore]

I'm Kaylin Moore and I'm going to be the one digging deeper into the timelines, the backstories and the court files related to these cases.

[Morgan Abshur]

And I'm your Internet sleuth Morgan Abshur. I'm the one who's diving into the Reddit forums, the local news, documentaries on YouTube and and everything else I can find to explore the case and see what adds up or doesn't.

[Kaylin Moore]

And at Crime House, we value your support. Please share your thoughts on social media and remember to rate, review and follow clues to help others discover the show.

[Morgan Abshur]

More on the case and the clues that defined it right after this quick break.

[Kaylin Moore]

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[Morgan Abshur]

Actually discovered this case. I was doing research for one of our earlier episodes and all of a sudden on my like discover more Bar on YouTube, it was like premiering soon news documentary from like a local news station in Minnesota, wcco.

[Kaylin Moore]

Oh, that's how you found it.

[Morgan Abshur]

And I literally sat there, I waited 20 minutes, I watched the little premiere timer go down on YouTube and I watched it and I was so blown away by this case. By Jeannie's family.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Abshur]

And their experience and them sharing about Jeannie. And it is a really, really interesting case.

[Kaylin Moore]

I think it's one that a lot of people don't know about too.

[Morgan Abshur]

No.

[Kaylin Moore]

So it's, I think it's a good one to highlight. That is a good find.

[Morgan Abshur]

Flies under the radar and really highlights good detectives and how big of a role evidence and some Sherlock moments can.

[Kaylin Moore]

Make and how important it is to keep calling the police all the time when you have a loved one who you're trying to have their case investigated.

[Morgan Abshur]

Absolutely.

[Kaylin Moore]

It really pays off.

[Morgan Abshur]

In this case, advocacy is huge.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah. And in this episode too, we have a lot of assets. There's going to be a lot of pictures, lots of stuff that was going on, people involved. So a quick reminder, if you're watching this on YouTube, you're going to see some of those photos. But if you're listening, you can follow us on Instagram Clues podcast and see the same pictures.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yes. And we try to get the pictures up on Instagram right away. We're going to start scheduling the. So they're a little earlier for you guys. Cuz we do hear you that you want to see them first thing in the morning right after you listen to the episode. So we'll be sure to try to get those up earlier for our audio listeners. So we, we hear you guys, but. Okay.

[Kaylin Moore]

All right. And with that, let's dive into this one.

[Morgan Abshur]

Let's do it.

[Kaylin Moore]

So I want to start on the day where everything changed on June 13, 1993. At around 5:30 that night, a tenant who was living at the Horn Towers building on Pillsbury Ave. In South Minneapolis, Minnesota comes home to see that their apartment is completely flooded. Water is seeping into their unit from next door. It's coming down through the walls and I mean that's Bad enough on its own because that's tons of damage that's going to have to get fixed. But once they take a closer look at the water, they realize that it's kind of crimson and it actually looks like the water's been mixed with blood. Now, this horrifies the tenant, who notifies the building management immediately. And so a maintenance worker and a security guard rush to the unit above where they believe that the water is coming from. And they can hear that there's a shower running inside. They start banging on the door. There's no response. So, I mean, it's the maintenance people. So they have a key and they let themselves into the apartment. And the first thing they do is they go to the bathroom. No one is there, but the shower is running. And they turn it off so quickly that they almost don't notice that there's blood on the porcelain sink. But once they do realize that, they see that there's actually a lot of blood in the bathroom. And they figure that they have to go and check the rest of the apartment. Even though they start getting this really bad feeling about what they might find. And what they do find is that the whole place is a disaster. Furniture is knocked over. There's not just blood in the bathroom, but there's blood all over the apartment. It's on the walls, it's all over the floor. And finally, when they go into the bedroom, they find that there is a woman's bloody, motionless body lying face up between the bed and the dresser. She's naked. The only thing she has on is bloody socks. And so the maintenance technician and security guard call 911. And by the time an investigative team arrives, including a forensic scientist from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, someone has tipped off the local news stations. So reporters and broadcasting trucks immediately show up outside. And meanwhile, across town, there's a woman named Betty Ean who's working as a hospice aide. She's working with this one patient this day who asks her to turn on the tv. So Betty does, and the news is on. And she sees that they're covering a story about a body being found in a high rise apartment. The TV screen shows a shot of the building and that causes Betty's blood to run cold because that is her 35 year old daughter Genie's building. Now, the victim could be anyone inside of the building, but in her heart, Betty has this like mother's intuition. She just knows that something happened to her daughter, and that's because she's been afraid of something like this happening. For a long time. Now her daughter is Genie Childs, who was born on April 21, 1958, in Isanti, Minnesota, a town of justice. Five hundred people at the time, really tiny town. And she was born to parents Betty and Eugene, who just weren't a very happy couple together. Eugene was really, from what we've read, hoping for a son. And when he didn't get a son, he just decided he wasn't really going to pay any attention to his daughter. So he didn't really give Jeie any of the attention or love that she deserved. And she spent a lot of her early years kind of fighting for her dad's affection. Eventually, I'm not certain how old Jeannie was at the time, But Betty and Eugene ended up splitting up. And Betty worked really hard to support her family. She was working in the health industry. And Jeannie throughout this whole time, really kept high spirits. She was a very playful kid. Betty eventually went on to remarry, and that's when Jeie got a little sister named Cindy. And Jeannie fell in love with Cindy instantly. She took on this really protective role in her life. Just kind of very naturally fell into the big sister role. And it seems like after this, the two of them go on to have a relatively happy childhood, at least for a little while. Because at some point, things take a dark turn. Although she didn't report it to her parents at the time, Jeannie would later say that she was abused by a male family member. And possibly because of that abuse, Jeannie had trouble in school. And she ultimately dropped out in just the sixth grade. And a year or two later, in 1971, when Jeie was just 13 years old, Betty's second husband, Cindy's dad, was shot and killed in nearby Minneapolis. It was hard for us to find more details about this, but we did learn that the shooter was his business partner and also his brother in law. But the circumstances other than that are kind of unclear as to what was going on. However, we do know that with Jeie's mom kind of distracted by grief, Jeie ran away from home. Not just once, but many times in the upcoming years. And whenever Jeie would run away, Betty would get her gun and her Great Dane and she'd go track her daughter down. While they lived in a pretty peaceful small town, Jeannie often ran away to the big city. She was running away to Minneapolis. And it seems like, at least from what her mom described, she'd always kind of end up in the sketchy parts of town. She was often found hanging out With a really rough crowd, kids that were older boys. For a few years, Betty managed to keep dragging Jeannie back home. They just repeated the cycle all the time. She'd go out, she'd find Jeannie, she'd bring her back. But nothing ever ended up being permanent. And Betty didn't realize it at the time, but in hindsight, when she reflects on it later in her life, she actually believes that Jeannie was probably suffering from substance abuse disorders even when she was a teenager. And Betty thinks that maybe Jeannie just couldn't stand being home because she would actually start going through withdrawal symptoms. And so she kind of needed to go out to get more drugs. And eventually, when Jeannie turns 18, Betty can't force her to return home anymore. Though it does seem like after she moved out for good, they stayed in close contact. Jeannie was still close with her family, despite not living with them. She sent her mom a photo of herself once riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle. She's wearing red lipstick. She has this heavy eyeshadow on. She has a bandana tied over her blonde hair. Now her family realizes that despite her difficulties, she seemed to still be having a lot of fun. She even had this biker boyfriend at the time. And Jeie's also pretty self aware. She's going through this phase to recognize that she's not going down the right path in her life. And we know this because she would write these letters to her little sister that are sad in hindsight, to read, where she would encourage Cindy to listen to their mom and not rebel too much because she didn't want Cindy making the same mistakes that she did. She still continued to have that protective, like, older sister instinct. And we know that no matter what kind of trouble Jeannie would get into, her family did have this unconditional love for her. And in many ways, they admired her. Like Betty we saw described her daughter as, quote, a wonderful person with a big heart. And she repeatedly reminded her that she was welcome home whenever she wanted to come back. No questions asked.

[Morgan Abshur]

Her family talking about her. I mean, she didn't judge people.

[Kaylin Moore]

They loved her.

[Morgan Abshur]

They loved her so much. And they are hearing their stories about her. She seemed like such a kind, empathetic person and really good friend.

[Kaylin Moore]

But her mom also talks about how much she did struggle with substance abuse. And eventually it seems like she was staying in Minneapolis. And through a series of events, she starts paying her bills with sex work. She would see customers sometimes at her own apartment, but other times she would work at this thing that was known as a health Club that functioned more like a brothel at the time. And as you might imagine, Jeannie's occupation also led to her having some trouble with law enforcement. She was really repeatedly being arrested for being a sex worker. But she had this straightforward, no nonsense attitude that kind of helped her charm the police a little bit. There's actually this story that I found of one officer who arrested Jeie. He ended up calling her mother and complimenting her mom on her parenting style because Jeie was, quote, raised right. So even as she was being arrested by this officer, there was something about her that was so magnetic and charming. And they just. They knew that her soul was good. She was just making these mistakes in a tough spot. In a tough spot. At one point, even being in this tough spot, Jeie gets married. And Betty, when she hears about this, she really hopes that this is going to motivate her daughter to take a more conventional path in life. Not a lot is known about this first marriage, but we know that it ended rather quickly in divorce. And then in the early 1990s, Jeannie once again gave family life a try. She married this guy named Alfred, who had three kids from her previous relationship. He was 24 years older than Jeannie was. That places him about his late 50s when they met. And he had young kids because he had kids later in life. His daughter Amber was just a toddler when they met. Amber's biological mom wasn't really involved in her life. So Jeannie became the person that Amber knew as her mom. She'd tuck her into bed every night, read her books, really took on this motherly role. And I'll note here that Jeie had a medically necessary hysterectomy, so she couldn't have her own biological children. And her mom really mentioned that was something that upset. Upset Genie a lot. She always wanted to have her own kids. So it kind of seems like she fit right into this stepmom role. This is something that she really wanted for herself. However, Alfred and Genie separated pretty quickly after they got married. But Genie still took really great care to maintain her close relationship with Amber and Amber's siblings. And it was during the separation that Genie started dating a Harley Davidson enthusiast named Arthur Gray. They seem like a really happy couple at the time, even though they had a little bit of a unconventional relationship, you could say, because during this time, Genie was continuing to do sex work. Arthur said he didn't mind, though. In fact, Arthur was accused of being Genie's pimp or some sort of trafficker. Even though Genie's family Didn't really see him as that. They always thought of him as being this really nice guy.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yeah, they talk about him being so sweet and them getting along really well. Yeah. Having so much fun on the Harley.

[Kaylin Moore]

They just like, never thought he was a bad guy.

[Morgan Abshur]

No.

[Kaylin Moore]

And I made a note here that it's probably worth noting that Arthur was black and Jeannie was white. So race might have had something to do with the fact that the police thought that she was being trafficked by him. But who's to say? I mean, regardless. Jeannie soon moved into Arthur's apartment at the Horn Towers, and she began meeting with her clients there. And in the days leading up to her murder, Jeannie was dealing with a bit of a medical issue. She had this abscessed tooth that she was dealing with. She visited the emergency room, but whatever they gave her, it wasn't doing any good. And the abscess continued to get worse and worse. So she called her mom on Saturday night, June 12, 1993, to complain about the horrible pain. I don't know if you've ever had a toothache that's like woken you from your sleep, but it is the worst pain that I've ever encountered in my entire life.

[Morgan Abshur]

T stuff really, really affects me.

[Kaylin Moore]

It can really drive you crazy.

[Morgan Abshur]

Sinus issues, and all of a sudden your teeth hurt.

[Kaylin Moore]

So her mom can hear how much pain she's in. Like, Jeanne's literally in tears telling her about this. And Betty's like, you have to go see a doctor. Like, you have to get antibiotics for this. You can't live like this. You're going to be in way too much pain. But then Jeannie all of a sudden is like, you know what? No, I'm fine. And she ends the call with saying, quote, I'll be okay. Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. And that was the last conversation that the two of them had. Because on Sunday, June 13, 1993, 35 year old Jeannie Childs was stabbed to death in the Horn Tower apartment that she shared with Arthur. This episode is brought to you by Viori. So viori is my new favorite loungewear. I must tell you. I just got a pair of the dream knit joggers and I'm completely obsessed with them. I never want to take them off. I can wear them to stretch in the morning, to run errands in the afternoon, but I also think they're just best when I'm lounging around the house at night. When I wear Vuori, I still look put together. Despite the fact that the clothes are so comfortable. And what's great about Vuori is that it's not your typical gym gear. Inspired by the laid back coastal California lifestyle. Everything is designed to move with you, perform with you, and still look amazing when you're out and about. These pieces are soft, they're lightweight, they stretch in all the right ways. It's basically like wearing a hug that lets you do whatever the day brings. Vori is also perfect as we move from fall into winter. I can't believe I'm saying that. Already the year has flown by. They're really easy to layer. I have a couple tank tops that I can wear underneath their cozy sweatshirts and it's perfect. Vuori is an investment in your happiness and for our listeners, they're offering 20% off your first purchase. Get yourself some of the most comfortable, comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at vuori.com clues. That's V-U-O-R-I.com clues exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. Not only will you receive 20 off your first purchase, but enjoy free shipping on any US orders over 75 and free returns. Go to vuori.comclues and discover the versatility of Vuori clothing exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions.

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[Kaylin Moore]

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[Kaylin Moore]

When the police start investigating Genie's murder, they realize right away that they're going to need more than just the local homicide division for this case. There is so, so much forensic evidence in the apartment. And they immediately place a call to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension or the bca, which provides forensic investigative services to all the police departments in Minnesota. Basically, they're the state's CSI squad. And here's what they will come to learn. So Jeannie's body has been horribly mutilated with what an autopsy is going to later catalog as over 60 stab wounds. Some of these appear to have been inflicted after she had died due to the lack of bleeding from the wounds. There's still blood evidence in the bathroom, though, that hasn't been washed away. And it looks like the killer might have even tried to clean up in the bathroom because there's blood on the sink and a towel. And the bedroom where Jeannie was ultimately killed is full of blood evidence, too. I mean, we've seen some of the photos from the crime scene.

[Morgan Abshur]

I think it's one of the most blood I've seen from crime scenes, like the photos especially. You know, there's a lot that gets shared on one of the news stories we watched. And it is a very, very blood filled scene. The water also carried a lot of the blood, so, you know, that really impacted the scene as well.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah, absolutely. And local cops know that Jeanie has a record of being a sex worker. And they also realize that there's probably a good chance that there's going to be semen present in the apartment somewhere. So they start looking around for that. It's going to be tough to figure out if there is any DNA evidence that they find, if it comes from the killer, because with her occupation, there could be like a bunch of different profiles in the apartment. But despite how messy and violent the crime scene looks, they do notice that it doesn't really look like there's sign of forced entry. So they believe that either the killer had a key to the apartment or they were invited in and that's when the attack took place. Basically, this is a case for someone who has a lot of forensic credentials. Unfortunately, the BCA can provide someone who fits that description. His name is Bart Epstein. He's the assistant director of the BCA's Forensic Science Lab and one of the best blood spatter experts in the Midwest at the time. So Bart rushes over to the Horn Towers, hoping that he's going to be able to use the blood spatter evidence to piece together exactly how the crime happened and point detectives to the most likely suspect.

[Morgan Abshur]

So Bart comes in and he thinks he's going to be focusing on fingerprints or just blood splatter that's found on the scene. But Bart instead finds himself focusing on something he didn't expect to see. Which brings us to our first clue in this case. The bloody footprints. From the moment Bart Epstein walks into the apartment, he realizes it is one of the bloodiest crime scenes that he has investigated in his 27 years with the Bureau. He was prepared for that, considering the cause of death. Police did inform Bart when they called him that Ginny was brutally stabbed but what Bart wasn't prepared for is what he sees under the bedroom window. Several bloody, bare footprints. You know, his first thought when he's looking at this, it's like, okay, maybe they're the victim's footprints. It is her apartment. But when he looks more closely at Jeannie's body, she's wearing a pair of bloody socks.

[Kaylin Moore]

So your feet were covered when they walked in. Covered.

[Morgan Abshur]

So these prints can't be hers. And it kind of points to these footprints belonging to the suspect, because otherwise, someone walked in after Jeannie was killed and got blood everywhere, but didn't report it. It has to be.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah, it makes sense that it would have been from the person who was there as she was being attacked.

[Morgan Abshur]

Has to be. But it's so incredibly unusual for a murderer to. To be barefoot. So he wants to go back to his lab and exclude all other possibilities before he can say that they do belong to an assailant. Officially, this guy is thorough and super professional. He has a lot of other cases with 58 homicides in the city that year alone.

[Kaylin Moore]

Oh, my gosh.

[Morgan Abshur]

Crime in Minneapolis had skyrocketed, especially for women that were sex workers. So it takes until September, three months later, actually, for Bart to officially submit his report. And in it he says, quote, the perpetrator is the most likely person to have left the bloody footprints at the scene. And footprints at the time were not. They're still not really used in, like, crime scene. Like, we always hear about fingerprints. And were there any fingerprints? But I think this case is the first one I've ever heard of where footprints were taken into consideration.

[Kaylin Moore]

Like bare footprints.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yeah, bloody bare footprints.

[Kaylin Moore]

Specifically, the actual indentations of the prints, trying to match them with another foot of the color.

[Morgan Abshur]

Like, where do you even begin with that? We hear about boot prints in mud, bare footprints, but there's a lot more.

[Kaylin Moore]

Like data on the bottom of your bare foot. Right. Because it's kind of like a thumbprint. You do have those ridges.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yeah, those friction ridge skin, as they call it. And same as our fingerprints. These lines are basically random. Like, they develop in utero due to what's called developmental noise. In other words, it's a bunch of chaotic signals from rapidly developing cells. And that's why each one of us has unique lines.

[Kaylin Moore]

That's so cool.

[Morgan Abshur]

Unique friction ridge skin. And there is another reason we might not hear about footprints in a lot of our cases here, especially in the US at least culturally. We wear shoes a lot.

[Kaylin Moore]

We wear shoes more than so many other cultures. I think a Lot of other places think that we're very weird because we wear shoes in the house.

[Morgan Abshur]

Oh, no.

[Kaylin Moore]

Ew.

[Morgan Abshur]

If you're a shoe household, get it together, Kaylin.

[Kaylin Moore]

I'm. No, I have, like, house slippers that I put on, but my feet are covered. A lot of the time when I'm.

[Morgan Abshur]

In the house, I have house shoes. I get that. So that's like other parts of the world, they take their shoes off. So they're actually. They are developing technology in other places around the world that will analyze footprints. Yeah, they're on it. But here, that's just not the case. And I will say, like, from the research and finding out, you know all about footprint analysis. Footprints can also give us a lot more information than a fingerprint. They can tell you if someone was standing, walking, running when they left. It can talk about weight and weight distribution. And if there's multiple footprints, it can even reveal if you have some sort of injury or ailment that makes your gait asymmetrical. Oh, this is something that physical therapists analyze a lot, is like foot strike, heel strike, and like your gate.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Abshur]

Really interesting.

[Kaylin Moore]

You can even see how big someone's arch was. Right. Just by looking at their footprint. So you can really get, like, a good sense of the foot.

[Morgan Abshur]

Absolutely.

[Kaylin Moore]

Wow.

[Morgan Abshur]

Did you ever go on that little foot analysis?

[Kaylin Moore]

I did at the Boston Museum? Boston Science Museum. I had the second highest arch they had seen that year. It's really hard for me to wear high heels because my arches always hurt.

[Morgan Abshur]

I just did the one at my local Walmart, but that one sounds a lot more scientific.

[Kaylin Moore]

I didn't know they had one at Walmart. That's cool. Yeah.

[Morgan Abshur]

But we learn all about this footprint, and it feels like a big, big thing to grasp onto in this. In this evidence that they gather.

[Kaylin Moore]

So once Bart says the footprint most likely came from the killer, investigators are hoping that they're going to be able to solve this case relatively quickly because they at least have one. What they think is an obvious suspect who they've been in touch with since the day of the murder. And that's Arthur Gray, Jeannie's biker boyfriend, who she lives with. But he has a pretty rock solid alibi from the beginning. He says that he was at a Harley Davidson motorcycle rally in Milwaukee when Jeannie died. And these are really big events, which means that Arthur has a lot of potential witnesses to confirm this alibi.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yeah. And Milwaukee's in Wisconsin. A whole state over. Yeah.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Abshur]

Decent drive away.

[Kaylin Moore]

He's far away. I mean, it Makes sense that he would have been at this rally. Now, police, I mean, think about it. They're bikers. Police automatically don't really trust Arthur. They also don't trust his friends. They believe that Arthur was trafficking Genie, though, at the time, they keep using the word pimp to refer to their relationship. And not to mention, there is a, a possible history of domestic violence between the couple. Arthur was accused of assaulting Jeannie just a few months before she died. So, I mean, that doesn't look great for Arthur. And then they also find that some of his hairs are stuck to Genie's left hand when they're investigating her body. Now, that all kind of leads to Arthur being interviewed again by the police. And this time, police convince him to give his palm prints, his footprints, and a DNA sample, because they're pretty confident that the footprints are just going to come back as a confirmed match. Only they're not. Forensic scientists determine Arthur Gray could not have left the footprints at the scene. And that's when detectives, you know, despite any preconceived notion they have on this guy, they just have to rule him out. They figure that the hairs on Genie's hand must have been there because he lived in the apartment and they were dating. Like, there's so many reasons his hair would be on her. And Genie was found in the bedroom that she shared with Arthur, so her bloody hand may have picked up his hairs in there somewhere.

[Morgan Abshur]

So unfortunately, this means the investigation is going to be way, way tougher than police had hoped. If Jeannie wasn't killed by her live in partner, the next logical place to look is at her sex work clients. But like most people whose jobs are criminalized, Jeannie took pains not to keep any records of her clientele.

[Kaylin Moore]

And I imagine no one is going to come forward and admit that they were a client.

[Morgan Abshur]

No. And so with Arthur eliminated, investigators kind of have to go back to the basics. Even with the footprint, they still need another suspect before it can actually be useful. But the footprints aren't the only important piece of evidence in this case. As we mentioned, there is so much blood all over the apartment. Bart and other forensic scientists are actually able to reconstruct Jeannie's final moments based on all of these, you know, blood stains and spatter. And so here's what they think may have happened. Ginny was just outside the bathroom door when the killer initially attacked her. Genie then moved into the bathroom, pursued by her attacker. Trapped in the small room with the murderer, Genie sustained dozens of stab and slash wounds there. She fell to the floor. And that's when the shower could have been turned on. Not by genie, but maybe by the attacker themselves, Perhaps to wash away any blood evidence or to muffle the sound of the attack. Either way, Jeannie managed to get back on her feet after being stabbed repeatedly. That's when they think the killer chased her into the bedroom. And that's where Jeannie fought. She fought so, so hard for her life. Her hands had numerous defensive wounds from struggling with her killer. But eventually, the attacker delivered the fatal blow. Jeannie suffered a brutal stab wound that actually broke her breastbone and pierced her heart. Even after Jeannie was lying dead on the bedroom floor, the killer continued and slashed her abdomen, again, practically disemboweling her. And that's something her sister did mention. You know, being able to see her insides. And from after she was already gone.

[Kaylin Moore]

It was a really angry attack.

[Morgan Abshur]

It sounds like it's almost giving picarism again. Then it's possible the killer took a moment to clean up because blood was smeared on a towel, a shirt, and a washcloth. Today, those items would be immediately tested for trace DNA. But in 1993, DNA evidence still mostly meant bodily fluids, Hair roots, nail clippings, bits of skin. Stuff that you could actually see with the naked eye because you needed a.

[Kaylin Moore]

Lot more of it to run these tests.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yeah, exactly. And so trace DNA can come from much smaller amounts. Like, I just. I brush up against you, and you might not be able to see anything, but I left some of my DNA on your shirt. Yeah, but again, the tech just was not there to test for it in the 90s, especially not to get a comprehensive genetic profile on it. It actually wasn't until the 2000s that trace DNA became more common. And even if we did have this trace DNA at the time, this might have even hindered the investigation a little bit, because we don't know how many who were coming in and out of Jeannie's apartment. And so, yeah, you could potentially get.

[Kaylin Moore]

Like, a lot of hits on people being in the apartment.

[Morgan Abshur]

Exactly. So investigators really only at the time had the big stuff, the blood, maybe semen, if it existed. And so that's what they were trying to go off of. And I will say, Even back in 1993, investigators felt confident that science would advance, it would catch up and maybe lead them to an answer, if not sooner, but later. So they were extra careful in preserving items from the apartment. But in the meantime, they do have some other evidence they can test with the current technology they had at hand, including the blood Found on the bathroom sink, a red shirt and Jeannie's towel. They actually suspected that the killer was injured in this scuffle with Jeannie.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah, I mean, she was fighting back so hard.

[Morgan Abshur]

So hard.

[Kaylin Moore]

So makes sense that they would have been injured as well.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yeah. And so they go out to local news and they're like, hey, if there's anyone that's coming to the hospital, let us know. There's also semen on Jeannie's bloody comforter in the bedroom, which provides more than enough genetic material for a full profile. The problem is it doesn't match anyone in their current database. And of course, in 1993, there were no public DNA databases, no 23andMe, no Ancestry.com yet, and forensic genealogy, like, that was not even a thought yet at that time. Plus, they're thinking that, like, even if they do find a match, those suspects might be able to just casually explain away their visit to Genie's apartment by saying they solicited her earlier and had nothing to do with her murder. But police are still hoping to solve the case without having to wait for the technology to catch up and evolve. So they spend the next several months focusing on old fashioned methods, you know, knocking on doors, interviewing neighbors. Did you see anything? Did you hear anything? And they revisit every possible suspect. We don't have a full list of everyone they looked into, but it's safe to assume they checked into everyone in Jeannie's life who might have had a motive. As far as we know, no one was ever really seriously considered as a suspect. They do, though, manage to find one witness in the building who reported seeing Jeannie the day of the murder. And they said she was with a trench coat wearing blonde man. But despite their best efforts, the detective never found a blonde man matching the description who could have committed the crime.

[Kaylin Moore]

And also, how much later is this? Like, are people sure that they saw her that day with this man?

[Morgan Abshur]

Like, yeah, I saw one source that, like, they even saw a trench coat guy running from the building. So it's unclear. And from my knowledge and all the research, we didn't have any, like, CCTV footage. So they're kind of nothing to back that up. Yeah, yeah. Kind of speculative at this point, but they're kind of circling around this same question. Like, if the killer isn't one of Jeannie's, you know, past partners, ex husband, current boyfriend, who, you know, whoever, it's probably one of her clients. Like, they were in her home. And so they could have been wondering if this client maybe Became obsessed with her and killed her out of jealousy. I know there's mention in the sources of like one client who is described as Fatal Attraction, but, you know, they really can't find anyone that they can suspect. And so they go as far as maybe this is a serial killer going through town. They are trying to turn over any leaf they possibly can to find Jeannie's killer. They were considering everything and anything at this point because they'd ruled out everyone they had known as a person of interest.

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[Kaylin Moore]

That 1993 specifically is a pretty tough time to be a Minneapolis homicide detective. The murder rate at the time is close to a 30 year peak with over 50 new homicides to investigate annually. So after devoting a lot of man hours to Jeannie's case and getting pretty much nowhere, the police just kind of let the case run cold. And over the years, Jeannie's mom, Betty, calls the department regularly. I mean, I think I saw like once a week or something. She was calling them to remind them of her daughter's case and to urge them to devote more resources to solving it. But eventually 10 years go by, then 15. And Betty, this entire time, never lets an entire year pass without having reminded the police that they never found her daughter's killer.

[Morgan Abshur]

She was on it.

[Kaylin Moore]

She just called them to remind them, like, hey, in case you forgot, you didn't solve this, you did a bad job.

[Morgan Abshur]

It's me again.

[Kaylin Moore]

Which is incredible for her.

[Morgan Abshur]

She. She did that is remarkable for doing that.

[Kaylin Moore]

And just like the days when Jeannie was a 13 year old runaway when Betty would load her gun and leash up her dog to go find her, There was no way that Betty was giving up on Jeie. Like, she is already used to having to track her daughter down, she is going to devote all of her resources to tracking whoever did this down. And then finally, after 22 years, this is 22 years after Jeannie's murder. There is new movement on the case. So the detectives that were now running the homicide division in 2015 know how eager Jeannie's family is for answers. And they don't want to do anything that's going to create false hope. So when they eventually decide to reopen the case In March of 2015, they decide that they're going to keep it a secret. At first. They don't even tell Jeannie's family just yet. Plus, they figure if the suspect is still in town, he probably thinks that he's gotten off scot free at this point. So maybe he's let his guard down a little bit. Maybe he's making mistakes. Maybe he's going to the local pub and he's talking about it with friends there. But the real reason that they're taking a second look is because in the last few years, DNA technology has gotten so much better, so much so that they feel like they can finally get more information from the evidence that they gathered back in 1993. A new analyst at the state's most advanced crime lab, the Bureau of Criminal apprehension, gets involved along with the FBI, and they just start retesting all of the evidence they have. This is really led by Sergeant Christopher Karacostas and FBI special Agent Christopher Beckers.

[Morgan Abshur]

So a short while later, not long, Chris and Chris's hard work pays off. And clue number four emerges. A new DNA match. It turns out there was also some blood in Jeannie's apartment stairwell, which police thought the killer might have tracked out there while they were fleeing the scene. When they rerun the DNA in 2015, investigators get a new hit. His name is John Eswine, and he's already in prison for a parole violation after getting a dui. So his DNA is in codis. After really looking into him, though, police can't find any known connections to Jeannie. But that's pretty much what they expected because they're looking for a client or an associate in the drug trade. So detectives approach John and find him surprisingly cooperative for somebody learning he's a potential suspect in a murder. But he seems totally baffled about how his blood got into Jeannie's stairwell. He says he remembers being in the building, but only one time in 1991. That's actually two years before Jeannie's murder. He says that he doesn't know Jeannie, but he's blonde. And remember, police spoke to one witness who reported seeing a blonde man leave Jeannie's apartment. So they asked John if they can take a sample of his DNA, and he cooperates. He also lets them examine his feet. They get footprints. The DNA is a match for the blood in the stairwell, but the footprints are inconclusive, and his DNA doesn't match any of the other samples that are now being retested from inside the apartment. So it's looking like this is not their guy. So police, they don't have anything else to go on. They drop John Eswine as a suspect. But the crime lab continues to retest the original evidence, and they find one profile that stands out to them. Using these new methods, they're able to confirm that the very same person left DNA evidence on Jeannie's comforter, a towel in her bathroom, the bathroom sink, a washcloth in the bathroom, and a red T shirt. There was a lot of DNA from this person all over this apartment, and it is, in fact, the only unknown profile found definitively in multiple areas. So the crime lab determines that this mystery profile probably belongs to the killer, Especially on the bloody towel. I mean, the. The places that it's coming from. These were clearly items used and touched by the killer. Yeah.

[Kaylin Moore]

It's on all the. The things where her blood was also found. Yeah.

[Morgan Abshur]

Two plus two equals four. And so they feel like they've. They've got a path to finally solving the case. If they can find someone who matches both the suspicious DNA profile and the footprint, that'll be enough evidence to bring murder charges. Even though it's 20 years after the fact, there's only one problem. They still don't have any new suspects to compare to the DNA profile. And it doesn't match any known criminals with DNA samples in the state or federal databases. So at this point, the case goes quiet. Though not entirely cold. Enter 2018. There's a new way to compare DNA evidence. Genetic genealogy. And this method is first coming about with the Golden State Killer being caught with it. And sure enough, our detectives Chris and Chris are watching the news on the Golden State, and they see a guy, an investigator from the FBI, in the background of the press conference. They end up connecting with him, and he goes, you're gonna get your killer this way. This method is going to catch your guy. And chills. I know. And in the interview, the FBI Special Agent Christopher Beckers, he is asked, like, what did you think about him saying that to you? And he's just like, I liked his confidence.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Abshur]

So they were hopeful. They. They saw what this method can do.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah. It was like a miracle came.

[Morgan Abshur]

It literally was.

[Kaylin Moore]

This new technology was such a miracle at the time.

[Morgan Abshur]

Exactly. To solve such a. A huge cold case like the Golden State. They knew that this could potentially bring justice for Jeannie.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Abshur]

And they were going to get it. So they used those same methods for Jeannie's case. In late 2018, an agent uploaded the unknown suspect's DNA profile from Jeannie's apartment to a site that aggregates DNA from several commercial databases. When that failed to turn up any potential matches, investigators reportedly sent the DNA profile to MyHeritage.com using a fake pseudonym, essentially. And pretty soon the phone rang. A [e-mail] had found a close match.

[Kaylin Moore]

And so that the genealogist, I imagine, just thought it was someone looking for cousins on there. And they called. They're like, we found your cousin and just gave them the name of a murderer. Yeah, that's wild.

[Morgan Abshur]

And so they were then able to construct a family tree that led them to a first cousin of the suspect, zeroing in. In Jeannie's case, this genetic genealogy was essentially a bullseye. I mean, it gave them everything they were looking for, but not just one match. Actually, this genetic profiler actually found two matches, full brothers Jerry and Kevin Westrom, both of whom fit the suspect profile. The profile was created based on a very small old DNA sample, though. So while it was complete enough to differentiate from unrelated people, it wasn't complete enough to distinguish between full brothers who share a lot of the same DNA. But they both lived close enough to Minneapolis to realistically have known Jeannie. Luckily, once officers started really looking into the brothers, they saw an important difference emerge. Only one of them had brown eyes, and the suspect DNA profile matched a brown eyed person. And Kevin Westrom didn't have brown eyes. So younger brother is ruled out, older brother ruled in. Which leaves us with 52 year old Jerry Arnold Westrom, who would have been about 27 to Jeannie's 35 at the time of her murder. He lives in isanti, Minnesota, about 40 miles north of Jeanne's apartment in south Minneapolis. And if Isanti is sounding familiar for you guys out there, it is, because it's where Jeannie was originally from. Though they didn't have a known relationship during their younger years, police learned that Jerry was a well known figure in Isanti, a businessman and an organic farmer with a background in commodities trading. He even wrote a blog about agriculture and dabbled in selling crop insurance. Friends said he was outgoing, low key, got along with most people, devoted hockey dad who rarely missed his daughter's games. To these people, it's not seeming possible that this guy could be a brutal murderer who stabbed Jeannie so many times and so hard that it broke her breastbone and stopped her heart. And police dug. They were trying to find a connection and they weren't able to find any direct matches between Jeannie and Jerry. No past relationship. And so they're like, maybe, you know, the. The DNA database could be wrong. So if they wanted absolute proof that Jerry's DNA was in Jeannie's apartment, police were going to need a fresh sample. And because they didn't have enough evidence to arrest and charge him, they had to do it secretly so they wouldn't spook him. Which is when they hatch a rather ambitious plan. So when the investigative team consults the forensic scientist they've been working with at the crime lab, Andrea Faya, she says their best chance at a match is by collecting the suspect's saliva. There's a lot of genetic material in your spit. It's actually why most commercial DNA tests have you swab your mouth or spit in a tube. So that is the mission. And our clue number eight, Jerry's saliva. Two FBI agents are assigned to run point on this, Chris being one of them. And unlike local officers, the FBI can actually cross state lines to investigate, which is important because Jerry's a hockey dad. He's traveling out of state for his daughter's tournaments and games, going all over. And so the FBI start stalking his Facebook page and figuring out what hockey tournament he's going to be at. Where can they find this guy and potentially intercept a sample? So in January 2019, the agents are tailing him. Jerry has no idea he's being investigated. And for weeks on end, they are going to hockey games, they're going to hotels. You know, in one interview, they say they see him having breakfast, and they see him wipe, and there's a napkin, but it gets thrown away with the groups, so they can't get anything there. But finally, after weeks of tailing him, the agents get their chance. Jerry is in Wisconsin cheering on his daughter's hockey game, blissfully unaware. There's an FBI agent following him. And he orders a hot dog from the concession stand, sits at a table in the lobby in the corner, eats his hot dog, wipes the napkin. And the agent is so specific, you can, like, see him recalling it. He's like, he wiped the left side of his mouth and put the napkin down, and sure enough, walks to the garbage, throws away the napkin and Styrofoam food container. And the moment Jerry leaves the lobby and heads back to catch the rest of the game, the agent is, like, starting to walk over to the trash can to get it. And Chris, in this moment, says he sees a kid standing over by the trash can with, like, this big red slushie, like, just threatening to throw it in, basically about to ruin the DNA. And he's like, I made eye contact with this kid. It was like this thing, like, silently.

[Kaylin Moore]

Begging the kid to not do it.

[Morgan Abshur]

Exactly. But he is able to get over to the trash can and. And collect this napkin. And so we get our. We get our evidence. Later the same month, the results come back, and it is a match. Jerry Westrom was definitely in Jeannie's apartment. And that alone might not be enough to convict him, but it's enough to finally get an arrest Warrant.

[Kaylin Moore]

So on February 11, 2019, this is almost 30 years later, Jerry is arrested in Waite Park, Minnesota, and held without bail on suspicion of murder. Jerry only lets the cops question him for about 11 minutes, during which time he denies ever having met Jeannie or having sex with any woman in Minneapolis in 1993. I mean, they ask him so many questions to try to get to the answer, but they're like, do you recognize this woman? And they hand him a photo, and he goes, no. Do you recognize his apartment complex? And he says, no. Did you ever solicit a prostitute? Which we know he did because we have seen his arrests, his previous arrests. And he goes, no. Like, it's just everything.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yeah.

[Kaylin Moore]

That they know about him, he just keeps saying no to. So they know he's a liar.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yeah. And they're presented him with enough where it's like, buddy, we. We know you were in this apartment. And I will say we watched his interrogation. And, like, at least I was surprised. Like, they get really far down the line of questioning before he lawyers up.

[Kaylin Moore]

Oh, yeah, they're able to ask him a lot. And he sits there and just answers some questions.

[Morgan Abshur]

You get out.

[Kaylin Moore]

But he's nervous. You can tell he's nervous.

[Morgan Abshur]

You can tell.

[Kaylin Moore]

And, you know, as the detectives are asking him these questions, they kind of don't care if he talks or not, because with him under arrest, they have the right to search his person. And that includes taking his footprints, the thing that they really need to confirm that he was the one there when the attack took place. So the police do that the next morning, February 12, 2019. And Jerry's footprints look a lot more like the bloody footprints found at the crime scene than any other footprints they collected over the last 25 years. But because bare footprint evidence is so rare, they aren't confident in their own assessment. I mean, they even talked to the expert who did it, and he is kind of going back and forth with. I think it was right it was, it was really close. I sent it to my friends who I didn't tell them anything about the case. I just asked them if the footprints were the same and they said yes. But I think I might have tipped them off. So I didn't trust them. Like, yeah, they really go back and forth.

[Morgan Abshur]

I know he sent it to two other experts and like really wanted to get an unbiased, like, review of the two samples. And he was like, I scrubbed the name of like the suspect off of everything I scrubbed and scrubbed except one. And so I do have to admit that like they were maybe biased, could have been biased, but like it was only one of the other people, the other experts that he gave it to and not the other. And both can confirmed. And so it was a match.

[Kaylin Moore]

Even though they're second guessing themselves a little bit in this sense, they do still feel good enough about the find that they finally decide to alert Jeie's family as to what's been going on. Remember, they haven't told them anything at this point that they even reopened the case. So one of the detectives calls Jeie's mom Betty, and her sister Cindy and says, quote, we got him. And when Cindy hears Jerry's name, she's dumbfounded because he is not a stranger to her, which she was starting to think that this person might have been a complete stranger. Now, Isanti is a small town. Cindy's not exactly friends with Jerry, but she knows who he is. Cindy's sons play hockey and she sees him at games. And for a while, Jerry also owned a gas station and convenience store in town. She doesn't know of any points of connection specifically between Jerry and Jeannie. But it is still horrifying for her to learn that this person, who is now a potential murderer, has been roaming free around her hometown. And she's been seeing him at her child's games.

[Morgan Abshur]

Probably saying hi to him in passing. I mean, exactly.

[Kaylin Moore]

They hope that Jerry's run of what seems like good luck is finally coming to an end. Now Betty and Cindy start wishing for something else. They really just want a conclusively guilty verdict. After all these years, maybe Jeannie's killer won't get away with this after all. And on Valentine's Day of 2019, Jerry Westrom is officially charged with second degree murder, which is to say that it wasn't premeditated. They're basically arguing that it was maybe a crime of passion once he was in the apartment. But prosecutors do intend to upgrade that charge to first degree murder. And their argument for first degree murder charges is essentially that the murder was so brutal and so violent and he, I mean, when you look at the photos and what they know about it, he chased her around the apartment and really chased her down. They really believe that it couldn't have been a spur of the moment thing. It must have been planned.

[Morgan Abshur]

I mean, especially because he continued after Jeannie was. Was gone. Like, yeah, come on.

[Kaylin Moore]

It was so violent and angry. And even though they don't really have any evidence of a motive at this point, prosecutors think that there is no way that someone could stab a person 60 times without making some sort of an intentional choice to kill that person. But in order to build this case for trial and also shore it up against inevitable appeals that are going to come, the prosecutors have to run this argument by a grand jury. And a grand jury is an independent body that gets to decide whether or not there's probable cause for a certain charge. So getting a grand jury indictment helps protect prosecutors from being accused of overcharging defendants.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yeah. Essentially a trial before the trial to make sure that they should even have a trial. Yes. That makes any sense for everyone out there.

[Kaylin Moore]

Let me know if you've ever been summoned to be on a grand jury because I'm so curious. Those people, like people that get those.

[Morgan Abshur]

Jury summons, I think they get more of a scoop. I feel like more comes out after trial. It's kind of like a little spark notes version, right?

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah, I think so. I have one friend that did a grand jury and it was like a four month thing. It was like a really. He was on that trial forever.

[Morgan Abshur]

Four months.

[Kaylin Moore]

Four months.

[Morgan Abshur]

Can you imagine being superstar?

[Kaylin Moore]

I think he had to do multiple ones. I don't know. Let me know in the comments if you've ever had to do that because I'm so curious what that process is.

[Morgan Abshur]

Please chime in.

[Kaylin Moore]

And so they know that that's going to take a while going through the whole indictment process. So for now, the important thing is to file charges so that if Jerry tries skip town, he's going to be subject to immediate arrest. Meanwhile, he somehow posts a five hundred thousand dollar bail and is released pending trial.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they refinanced their house or something. And his wife is standing by him. I know family's all standing by him at this point.

[Kaylin Moore]

I don't want to point to the wife without having conclusive evidence that she did that. But like she was very much standing by for man this whole time.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yeah.

[Kaylin Moore]

Even though he has charges of soliciting sex While they were married. Whatever. On June 25, 2020, a grand jury convenes and sides with the prosecution. They indict Jerry on charges of first degree murder. And by the time the trial begins on August 16th of 2022, I mean, at this point, the case is now 29 years old. The prosecution sticks to a pretty simple story anchored by really three pieces of evidence. First, they believe that Jerry Westrom lied in his police interview before he asked for a lawyer. He said he didn't know Genie and that he had never seen her apartment building. He also claimed that he never even had sex with a woman in Minneapolis in 1993. And he said he definitely was not visiting sex workers there. However, Jerry has a 2016 conviction for solicitation of sex workers, but he stuck to his guns anyways, and he said there was no way he could have hired Jeannie. That brings in, of course, the second key piece of evidence, the DNA match that proved Jerry was in fact in Jeannie's apartment and both his semen and his blood were found there. I mean, this is something he should have remembered when they're asking him, like, have you ever been in this apartment building? And he says, no. I mean, we have so much biological material from you inside of this apartment.

[Morgan Abshur]

Your blood and semen don't get there unless you were there.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yes, exactly. And even with the DNA, there is a chance that maybe Jerry was just a customer. I mean, there was biological material from other men in the apartment, as you would expect from a sex worker. But there is that third piece of evidence that we have. Both the defense and the prosecution's forensic science experts agree that at least one of the bloody footprints belonged to Jerry. I mean, even the defense agrees with that. The prosecution expert says that four of the prints were Jerry's. By the time the prosecution gets to the I rest my case part, they're pretty confident that the jury is going to be with them. As for the defense, during the trial, they run into some trouble pretty early on, which is one of the reasons why it takes so long for the trial to even start. They want to base key elements of their case on an alternative suspect and the presence of other unknown male DNA profiles in Jeannie's apartment. There's still this one unknown profile. It's not a match for Jerry or for any other suspect that is collected from Jeannie's underwear. And the defense provides five alternative suspects names to the judge. Among them is John Eswine, who's that blonde man that left his blood in Genie's stairwell. And Claimed it was from 1991. And also Arthur Gray, Genie's boyfriend. And they argue again that he was her trafficker. He actually passed away in 2012, though. And they also point to that client that you brought up earlier, Morgan GV who actually did have an appointment with Jeannie on the day of the murder. Now, the fourth is a neighbor in the building who was arrested for threatening residents with a knife and who also happened to have a history of sexual violence. That neighbor is referred in court documents as TK now, he lived two doors down from Jeannie, and he was allegedly heard referring to her as, quote, the prostitute. And he had multiple convictions for criminal sexual conduct. But that's really all we have on that potential suspect. The fifth, however, is someone named James Lewis Carlton, who was already serving life without parole for 1994 stabbing, with some similarities to Jeannie's case. Just like Jeannie's murder, the victim in that 1994 stabbing was killed brutally. And once again, there was no sign of forced entry. Carlton also couldn't be conclusively excluded as a contributor to the DNA found on Jeannie's bloody comforter, which did come from multiple males, but he couldn't be identified as a positive match either. But the judge ultimately rules that the defense can only present one alternate suspect to the jury, Arthur Gray. The evidence against all the others, at least according to this judge, is just far too weak. So the defense's strategy is mostly to blame Arthur, who, remember, had a pretty solid alibi with other witnesses that corroborated this, but he was in another state. So they lean on the hairs that were stuck to Jeannie's hand, which matched Arthur and no other suspect. And the defense points out that Arthur's hairs weren't found elsewhere in the apartment, despite the fact that he lived there. But ultimately, with 80% of their alternate suspects thrown out, the defense attorneys know that they have a real uphill battle. And proving that it was Arthur, their best evidence might actually be something that they don't present directly to the jury at all, and that's Jerry's wife and children who accompany him to court every day and are constantly seen holding his hand and hugging him and supporting him, like they're really making him look like a good, caring, loving father. They really hope that the jury is going to believe this story, that he's this attentive husband and kind father who in no way could be capable of murder.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yeah, I mean, they get character witnesses from everyone and anyone they can.

[Kaylin Moore]

Right.

[Morgan Abshur]

Like, I think his sister writes in that he Saved her when she was younger. She wouldn't. Something along the lines of, like, she wouldn't be here if it weren't for him. Like, they're really trying to pull at that family man. Heartstrings, totally. But yet multiple DWIs and solicitation of.

[Kaylin Moore]

Prostitutes are being used.

[Morgan Abshur]

Multiple solicitations over the years, like, yes.

[Kaylin Moore]

But it's going to be hard to prove that he was capable of a murder that was so brutal and so driven by rage when the jury and everyone is kind of seeing this other picture of a dad and a husband. The defense, though, is still, like, not really feeling all that optimistic as the trial comes to an end, because the prosecution has a very strong closing argument. And the prosecutor addresses the jury directly during this time, and he urges them to convict on first degree murder charge rather than just second degree based on how brutal the crime was. And he asks, quote, what else are you intending to do to another human being when you cut, stab, and slice them 65 times? Now, on August 25, 2022, after just two hours of deliberating, which is really no time at all, that's so fast. The jury finds Jerry Westrom guilty of. Of both first and second degree murder. An appeals court is later gonna toss out the second degree murder conviction after finding that the jury actually should have been instructed to only choose one of the charges, not both. So they do throw one of them out, which is just funny that the jury didn't know that they had to pick between the two. They were just like, we hate this guy. Both guilty, Guilty.

[Morgan Abshur]

No questions asked.

[Kaylin Moore]

And still on September 9, 2022, Jerry is sentenced to. Sentenced to life in prison. He's going to be eligible for parole after 30 years. At that point, he's going to be 86 years old. Jerry's family chose to not address the court or talk to any reporters. Genie's family has decided to speak out, though. Cindy has her victim advocate read a prepared statement for her. And through this advocate, she expresses relief at the verdict, but she also acknowledges that Jerry's conviction and sentences will tear another family apart. Like, it's incredible to hear her speak in the documentary because she is happy that her sister's killer was caught, and she is devastated for his daughters, like, and even his wife. I mean, she's such an empathetic person, but she's really sad.

[Morgan Abshur]

I know she said something along the lines of like, I'm sad that your daughters will never get to have you walk them down the aisle. I'm sad that your grandchildren will Never know you.

[Kaylin Moore]

I know, because she's thinking about, like, when she talks about. About her sister, she talks about all the things that she missed.

[Morgan Abshur]

She missed. She missed everything.

[Kaylin Moore]

She missed the graduations. Like, Cindy went on to have kids, and their aunt wasn't there for anything. And so now she's, like, looking at this other little girl being like, you're me. Like, you also have this loved one that's gonna miss everything, obviously for very different reasons, but, like, she can't help but be sad for this.

[Morgan Abshur]

It's a very empathetic woman.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yes. Yes. She describes this whole case as being just a situation where no one wins. That's the quote she has, is that no one wins. And Betty chose to address the court herself in a victim impact statement, saying, quote, I've waited so many years to have this end, and it's put my life through so much hell, and I just really feel I'll never forget and love her the way I always did. Ugh.

[Morgan Abshur]

So sad. Yeah, well, so, so, so sad. There is a ton of evidence against Jerry. The footprints. His DNA matched both blood and semen in the apartment. I mean, those. Those big piece of pieces of evidence, the towel.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Abshur]

He also clearly lied in a recorded police interview, and he lived in the same small town where Jeannie grew up. I mean, his lawyer is still convinced, or at least outwardly convinced, like, you got the wrong guy. I mean, there were other DNA profiles, but, like, that is, in my mind, easy to explain away.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Abshur]

You know, given everything.

[Kaylin Moore]

So, Morgan, what do you think about the fact that, like, we don't know if they had some sort of altercation inside the apartment? We don't know if he showed up there just planning to commit a murder because he's really a serial killer. Like, do you feel like there's maybe other victims out there? Because I definitely think he would have been capable of that.

[Morgan Abshur]

I. Yeah, I mean, I don't know how you have your first and only victim be 60 to 65 times. Stabbing like that is an insane amount of violence to conflict against another person, especially when you didn't know, like, they grew up in the same town, but, like, they didn't really know each other. So given all the other solicitation charges where he got caught soliciting prostitutes, like, I could see there being other victims out there, and maybe there's more DNA that will come up eventually.

[Kaylin Moore]

Maybe. Maybe I wouldn't really be all that surprised. But.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yeah, and. But so far, you know, no one else is appealing this. Jerry has gone to the Minnesota Supreme Court to try to appeal. They are not going to hear his case. So he is in here at least for 30 years and justice for GENIE is, is being served.

[Kaylin Moore]

Yeah. And so there's a lot of unsolved cases like genies all over the country where old DNA evidence exists that could definitely be retest with these new methods for a better shot, if not the only shot of answers or justice. But a lot of that evidence so far hasn't been retested, largely because funding for cold cases is super limited, especially when you're in smaller districts and small towns and small police departments. But we did find that there's a non profit organization called Season of Justice that gives out grants for DNA testing old unsolved cases. This is an incredible closing rate. But out of 220 grants so far, they've already contributed to the successful resolution of 20 cases. And investigation in others is still ongoing. So if Jeannie's story has moved you, you can check out seasonofjustice.org to find out more about their mission and even support their work.

[Morgan Abshur]

But that is all we have on Genie Childs. We'll be closing her case and moving on to our Missing Person the week. Our Missing Person of the week is Ariana Fitz. Ariana Fitz was reported missing from San Francisco, California on April 5, 2016. She was last seen in Oakland, California in January or February of 2016. And this is a really, really interesting case, you guys. On April 8, 2016, Ariana's mother, Nicole Fitz was found murdered and buried in a public park in San Francisco. It is believed that Ariana was not with her mother when she was killed. Investigators on this case speculate that Ariana was with a babysitter and her husband during this time. And Ariana's mother Nicole was actually lured to the park where she was potentially killed and buried to get her daughter back. This is still a very ongoing case and investigators are looking for crucial information. Investigators said, quote, we are confident that there are individuals who have information about where she may be and we encourage them to come forward and speak to law enforcement to help bring Ariana back home. They believe that people in the Las Vegas Valley have crucial information in this case. We're unclear what, but this is coming from an agency spokesperson. There are a few age progressed pictures we will be sharing of Ariana. As of right now, she would be 12. She's described as having black hair, brown eyes. At the time of her disappearance she was only 2ft tall and 45 pounds. But obviously that has been quite some time. They Describe her as a black female. There is a 250k reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction for the murder of Nicole Fitz and the disappearance of her daughter. Anyone with information about this case wishing to remain anonymous may call the SFPD Tip Line at 415-575-4444. Or you can text a tip to 47411 and type SFPD and then type your tip. The case number is 1-602-89073. And again, if you're in the Las Vegas Valley, please look at the pictures. Maybe you've even seen Ariana.

[Kaylin Moore]

But yeah, without knowing it.

[Morgan Abshur]

Without knowing it.

[Kaylin Moore]

Progress photos.

[Morgan Abshur]

Exactly.

[Kaylin Moore]

Definitely.

[Morgan Abshur]

This is a crazy case.

[Kaylin Moore]

It really is.

[Morgan Abshur]

So keep your eyes peeled.

[Kaylin Moore]

But that is all we have for this week's episode of Clues. This was a real doozy, but it just kind of proves that, like, with the way that DNA technology is advancing, there's always hope.

[Morgan Abshur]

There is always hope. And like, justice can be served. And you know, as you know, her sister Cindy said it's a no win for kind of everyone. But Jeie deserves justice. The family deserves answer. I mean, her mom Betty called so much, so much.

[Kaylin Moore]

Never let it go. Really fought for her daughter. And because of that, we got a conviction, which is awesome. But now we want to hear from you guys, your thoughts, theories, feedback, all that stuff is what makes this community so special.

[Morgan Abshur]

Yeah. And if there's any cases that you want us to highlight coming up, put it in the comments. If there's any missing people you know of from your area, we'd love to get the word out. So be sure to keep commenting all of those suggestions for us. We really appreciate it at Crime House. We really value your support. So again, share your thoughts on social media and remember to rate, review and follow clues to help others discover our show. That's all we got this week.

[Kaylin Moore]

We'll see you next time, guys.

[Morgan Abshur]

Bye Bye.

[Kaylin Moore]

Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong is perfect for spooky season. Dive into the real events behind the world's most terrifying blockbusters and beyond. Twisted Tales is a crime house original. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, new episodes out every Monday.